Gibson Breaks New Wind With $5500 MIC POS

[FrankenFretter***]

I thought for sure someone would have posted this here by now... I guess I'll be the one. Just don't shoot the messenger, and remember that my opinion is only that.

Here's a link to some of the details. Apparently the Firebird X, as it's called, is a Bluetooth enabled guitar with onboard effects. List price is expected to be, as you may have inferred from the title, $5 1/2 K. Oh, and did I mention it's to be made in China? Yeah. Well, here's a copy and paste of what I think about that, from another forum (forgive me Robert) that was my source for this info-

I think that one of the reasons that Gibson can "justify" their current pricing is that there is an implied premium associated with a guitar that's made here in good ol' US of A. When they come up with a good reason why they can charge that much for something made ANYWHERE else but here, I'd like to hear it. I think Gibson has run out of good ideas. Now they're just batting around a bunch of stuff that guys from the mail room and IT have dropped in the company "Idea" box that sits in the cafeteria.

IMHO, this is an EPIC fail. And the people who are willing to buy this piece of crap (again, just MHO) are just perpetuating the ridiculous pricing schemes. Here's an idea: If it sucks, just because it says Gibson on the headstock, DON'T buy the damn thing!

Speaking for myself, I have to say that I think charging anything over 1K for that guitar is unethical.

That is all for now.

I know I'm hard to read, but I feel a bit of irritation at this afront. Boo, Gibson, boo (and not in the good Halloween ghost kind of way)!

[Eric***]

Hmm. I read about this today, but I guess I missed the part about it being made in China. Not sure how that will pan out.

I guess I'll wait and see what the reviews are on it. As unpopular as Gibson's latest offerings seem to have been on the interwebz (robot guitar, etc.), I read a post or two that said that they actually sold very well.

I dunno. It's not like I was going to buy anything that expensive anytime soon ANYWAY, so I don't really care if they release what may or may not be a gimmicky guitar. If they can sell them at that price, there's no one stopping them.

Guitars are one area in which I am OK with a completely market-driven economy. I may not like their prices, but since when does anyone care about my opinion on the pricing of guitars I won't buy?

Again, I'll be interested to see if this catches on or not. My gut says no, but what if it's a super high-quality guitar with very usable on-board effects? It's possible...

[Jimi75]

Oh no, not again one of these "creative" inventions by the big G.
I really don't know what kind of people work in their product developping and product marketing department. Sometimes I believe that they come up with all these crappy new guitars just to gain attention. I personally don't need onboard effects....how 'bout an onboard coffee maker, he? *lol*

This goes directly to Gibson - - for their great sense of humor and their big lack of knowing what the guitar market of nowadays requires!

[Heywood Jablomie]

I think it's more like the car prototypes that are shown at the annual auto shows - more of a marketing tool to stir up interest in the brand, thus selling more of the standard line.

[Tig***]

Let me correct this thread's title:

Gibson Breaks Wind

// If I'm willing to blow $5500 on one guitar, I'd go with something like these...

Wait! Look closer...

[NWBasser]

..an act of despiration on the part of Gibson.

What a joke.

[sumitomo]

You titled this thread right Gibson Breaks Wind cause that stinks!Sumi

[Katastrophe]

I guess the rumor about the Chinese Gibby Studio USB is untrue...

Epic, history making fail, Gibson, along the lines of the Edsel.

[Ch0jin]

I'm not bothered by Gibson introducing some weird hybrid instrument, I'm more interested in perving on those guitars Tig posted!

That is an amazing finish! What kinda special Fender's are they?

[Tig***]

I'm not bothered by Gibson introducing some weird hybrid instrument, I'm more interested in perving on those guitars Tig posted!

That is an amazing finish! What kinda special Fender's are they?

Those are at Sweetwater...
Custom Shop "Ghost Paisley" Masterbuilt by Mark Kendrick

[FrankenFretter***]

Hmm. I read about this today, but I guess I missed the part about it being made in China. Not sure how that will pan out.

I guess I'll wait and see what the reviews are on it. As unpopular as Gibson's latest offerings seem to have been on the interwebz (robot guitar, etc.), I read a post or two that said that they actually sold very well.

I dunno. It's not like I was going to buy anything that expensive anytime soon ANYWAY, so I don't really care if they release what may or may not be a gimmicky guitar. If they can sell them at that price, there's no one stopping them.

Guitars are one area in which I am OK with a completely market-driven economy. I may not like their prices, but since when does anyone care about my opinion on the pricing of guitars I won't buy?

Again, I'll be interested to see if this catches on or not. My gut says no, but what if it's a super high-quality guitar with very usable on-board effects? It's possible...

The problem with a market-driven guitar economy is that it will continue to keep that bar just out of reach for folks like you and me, Eric. People perpetuate it by buying overpriced products, and the guitar companies (well, really only one as far as I'm concerned) continue to push their products out at continuously elevating prices because not enough of us are willing to say, "HELL NO!".

Again, just my very jaded opinion. Even if I had that kind of disposable income, I wouldn't buy that guitar simply out of principal.

Okay, rant over for now.

[Katastrophe]

Here's a link: http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Elec...irebird-X.aspx

The things I dig: The finish, and the shape is kinda cool in a quirky, off kilter sort of way. I dig the minihumbucker setup, too.

The things I don't dig:
1. The extraneous crap. Onboard effects? Srsly?
2. The price. It's made in China! Even with all the the technology, there is no way that it costs THAT much to build. $5K street price? I think ol' Henry must be snorting the mahogany dust in the factory.
3. That ain't no Firebird. No way, no how. Nope. Not buying it.
4. I saw somewhere that the thing comes with a gigbag. $5k, all this delicate technology, and no hard case. Good thinking, guys.


Just a little unsolicited advice to the bean counters in Gibbyland: Make solid guitars, well crafted, at prices regular people can afford. They will sell.

The right kind of innovations are cool, and you just have to look at Epiphone. The Prophecy series is awesome, the Ultra 1 and 2 are flippin' sweet, The Trad Pro is great, and the 1954 Oxblood special run was killer.

By contrast, the Dusk Tiger is just plain goofy, the BFG was weird (and unfinished), the Tribal Series looked like the finish had been slapped on with a paint roller, and the overwhelming majority of your products are way overpriced. If I'm gonna pay $5000 - $14000 for ANY guitar, it's gonna be for a hand built, luthier crafted, special, one off guitar.

BTW, Gibson, look at the comments on your own website... 175 comments so far, and only ONE blatantly positive fanboy post.

This is sad, because I really do like Gibby guitars. I've always said that the best playing guitar I've ever had my hands on was a buddy's Les Paul made back in the 80s. I've drooled over them for decades now.

Oh well, I guess that's what used guitars, Epiphone, and copies are for.

[FrankenFretter***]

I agree with Katastrophe; Epi is coming up with better new products than their Gibson counterparts. This, for instance, is freakin' sweet. I'm sure they'll be out of stock by the time that I have my tax return, dang it...

[Eric***]

The problem with a market-driven guitar economy is that it will continue to keep that bar just out of reach for folks like you and me, Eric. People perpetuate it by buying overpriced products, and the guitar companies (well, really only one as far as I'm concerned) continue to push their products out at continuously elevating prices because not enough of us are willing to say, "HELL NO!".

But at the same time, that's the good part -- you don't have to choose Gibson. If they start charging more than people will pay, their business will decline, and other businesses like Heritage or Hamer will take over their market share. It's self-regulating.

They make a lot of extra money off of the Gibson name right now, but a guitar is a guitar. I don't want to pay for a name, so I won't. If I was to buy a Gibson, it would be for the quality of the guitar, not for the headstock.

In those ways, I have no fear of Gibson doing anything. They certainly don't have me by the balls, and there's many a good manufacturer who can crank out good guitars like Gibson, so why should I care? Let the market dictate what they charge and whether they stay in business.

Now the preening pretension some guitarists seem to have about the Gibson brand is another thing entirely, but so far we're just talking about the company.

[Ch0jin]

Thanks for the link Kat, although I think I threw up a little in my mouth when I saw what passes for a Firebird at Gibson these days. Man that thing is as ugly as a dropped pie.

And WTF is with the copy on that page!!!!!!!!

"Very Light, Ultra Comfortable and Fast Playing Physical Guitar" as a tag line.

"Very Light, Ultra Comfortable" Well thats great, if I'm shopping for underwear...

"Physical Guitar"? It seems my nightmares have come true and games like guitar hero have become so ingrained in youth culture that it is now necessary to point out in big bold type that this is actually not an xbox controller and is actually a "Physical Guitar"

And this.."Firebird X is like the world’s best street legal sports car in looks, feel and performance."

So this is where we are now. We use words like "street legal" to describe a guitar? Not very rock and roll, no sir, not at all.

And lastly.. "A turbo-charged Pure-Analog™ Digital Signal Processing (DSP) engine...."

Anyone else choke on the oxymoron? "Pure Analog Digital"

Oh wait I see, it's actually "Pure-Analog™..." which means it's probably a trademarked name for a DSP and not at all analog. Do they think the sort of person who's cashed up for a $5k guitar would miss that?

I also have a personal bug up my butt about the overuse of the word "turbocharged". A guitar cannot be fitted with a turbocharger, so it's not frikkin "turbo-charged"

Sigh......

/endrant

[Tig***]

I like Gibson and want them to continue as a viable company, but not like this. They keep coming up with some not so wise products and marketing gimmicks, like the ill fated Jimi Hendrix Signature model.

Message to Gibson Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz: Stop being a rock target! and Lower the prices a bit.

[hubberjub***]

That is beautiful. I wouldn't have noticed the paisley if it hadn't been mentioned.

Let me correct this thread's title:

Gibson Breaks Wind

// If I'm willing to blow $5500 on one guitar, I'd go with something like these...

Wait! Look closer...

[Kazz]

Did someone say something about Gibson guitars in this post? All I see is a BEAUTIFUL Telecaster :-)

[wingsdad]

I suppose we should have seen the evolution coming.

The Gibson brand proudly built their legendary status instruments for 80-something years in Kalamazoo, Michigan -- Epiphones, as well, since they acquired that company in the early 60's... but then sold out and moved on to be Gibson Nashville, Gibson Memphis and acoustics made in Bozeman, Montana. Then they built and launched (2004, I think) their own factory in Qingdao, dubbing it 'Gibson China' and exhiling a team of Gibson USA management to run it 'the Gibson Way' and teach their crew of Chinese how to build various Epiphones. And control costs and profits that had grown too high for them doing it otherwise.

Having top quality Epis built for them by Samick in Korea from about 1983 - 2002, with Saien, Fine, Un Sung, Aria, Peerless and a couple of other Korean factories hanging on a couple of more years, til Korea got too expensive, turning more and more to subcontracting to Chinese factories such as Dae Won, Sae Jung and Muse since 2002, the pace picking up since 2004, even as Gibson China was starting up...because the initial QC in Qiangdao sucked.

So perhaps this new hot rod, priced like it's a USA Gibson but manufactured at MIC costs, is the harbinger of the ultimate shutdown someday, perhaps sooner than we may realize, of Nashville, Memphis and Bozeman, just like they did Kalamazoo.

Gibson's eroded market share and sales that's transpired over the past 30 years, as more and more quality guitar makers/brands got into the game has forced them to adapt and find ways to squeeze more profit out of selling less guitars so they could sustain growth and satisfy their investors.

What better way now than to just take it all to China?

EDIT: Syo makes a good point in his post following this one of mine...so NOW, no longer assuming that MIC is a factual statement as this thread alledges through the opening posts, I go to the link for the Firebird X on the Gibson site and it IS shown as a Gibson USA product....where did the basis of the MIC allegation come from?

Regardless...I stand by my theory that Gibson China was not built to be an Epiphone factory forever. Gibson will simply do what so many American manufacturers have had to do to survive, and did it long ago...companies like GE, RCA (that's a hoot....Radio Corporation of America...I have an RCA TV...made in China): pull up stakes and take their manufacturing elsewhere.